My hair has always been big, in the way, even when I used to relax it.
Until my teenage years, I didn’t realise how my natural hair looked.
I knew it was long, beautiful (because everyone around me was saying it), but it was always braided or blow-dried so I had no idea how curly hair should look like.
One day I relaxed my hair without even knowing what it meant or what would the consequences be. I just wanted the straight hair one of my aunties had and asked her to do it for me. It was too late when I realised that it was permanent.
During a trip to Jamaica, I kept straightening my hair, struggling to keep the roots flat and silky in a weather that was anything but comprehensive. At that point I thought ‘what am I struggling for, I am obviously fighting against my own nature’ and never went back to relaxers since.
People generally like my hair but I have pretty bad memories when it comes to the dating scene.
From ‘you are beautiful, but your hair though…’, ‘did you get electrocuted to have such hair’ to ‘when I see you I feel like I’m on holiday in the Caribbean’. I heard it all.
I very often notice the way people look at me. I can never figure out if it’s because they are curious and interested in my hair or if they just look at me like I am some sort of freak.
People stop their cars and look at me with their mouth hanging, but I learned to deal with this.
I love my hair and that’s the most important.